It is known in the art to provide electrical connectors for insulated wire and insulated multistranded cable. In some circumstances the connector requires a terminal length of the cable or wire to be stripped of its insulation, while in others the connector can effect a good electrical connection without the stripping of the insulation.
Many connectors, including those provided by the assignee hereof and others, have a component into which a wire or cable end is inserted, typically a bore or other receptacle in a female connector body. Heretofore, the installer has had to guess whether the insulated wire or cable has been inserted into the connector body by the correct depth; it is often the case that the insulated conductor is not inserted into the connector far enough, or is inserted into the connector too far. Either way, and dependent on the particular connector design, the result may be a less than optimum connection in terms of electrical conduction, protection of a stripped end from the environment and physical strain relief.
Similarly there has been heretofore no clear guide, intrinsic to the components themselves, as to how far an end of an insulated conductor should be stripped prior to connection; the installer often has to refer to a separate printed instruction, which might tell him or her to strip off ¼ inch, ½ inch, or some other amount, and other times the installer simply guesses. The resultant variation in stripped lengths causes variability in how good the physical and electrical connections are, and how well the conductor is protected from the environment. If the installer strips the conductor too far, he or she will often have to cut the conductor again and restrip the end, causing waste in materials and time. A need therefore persists for methods and apparatus for cutting, stripping and connecting insulated conductors to connectors and equipment terminals, identically time and time again, so as to minimize installer error.